


looks like hope

by Miisakee



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Autumn, Gen, Halloween Content War, Pre-Relationship, mostly just friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 23:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12493156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miisakee/pseuds/Miisakee
Summary: Barbara and Dick go for coffee.





	looks like hope

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Halloween Content War on Tumblr, run by camsthisky. This one's for the prompt: autumn.

Barbara lets out a sigh as she stares at her screen, a headache throbbing behind her temples. 

Another murder. This one in Gotham Village, the seventh murder in two weeks. Whoever the killer is, they’re not taking their time. If they keep to their previous schedule, there’ll be an eighth body found the day after tomorrow. 

She can't allow that to happen. 

Having already sent out Dinah to fetch the latest autopsy report and Helena to check out the body-dump site, there’s not an awful lot Barbara can do. Behind her, on another monitor, a computer program searches her database for possible suspects, using DNA found at the scenes, but unless it comes up with some names...

Barbara grimaces and buries her face in her hands, avoiding the gruesome crime-scene photos on her screen. She is so sick of murders, so sick of looking for monsters that might never be found, that might never be stopped.

She is so, so tired.

“Coffee,” she says abruptly, slamming the door on those thoughts and sitting up straight in her chair. “I need coffee.”

Gripping her wheelchair rims, Barbara pulls back on the wheels to reverse, before pulling the left rim to turn to the right. Wheeling herself through her Clocktower, she comes to her kitchen and starts searching through her cupboards.

“Coffee, coffee, come on,” she mutters.

It takes a few minutes of desperate searching before she’s forced to concede. There is no coffee.

Barbara groans and face-plants on the counter, her arms out in front of her. No coffee, a serial killer on the loose. Is there any way this day could get better?

And an alarm goes off from her exterior security system. The high-pitched noise blares, only increasing her headache.

Barbara growls and pulls on her wheelchair rims, backing away and heading towards her computer. Whoever that intruder is, they’re gonna pay.

She taps on her keyboard, frowning at the security cameras.

There’s nobody there.

Barbara stares for a minute, before she groans. “Dick, we’ve talked about this,” she says, turning her wheelchair around and glaring into the shadows. “I have a front door for a _reason_.”

The highly irritating idiot that Barbara for some reason calls her best friend materialises out of the shadows. “Windows are the future, Babs,” he says, leaning against the wall. “We’ve covered this.”

Barbara rolls her eyes. “And I have always disagreed,” she snaps, before turning and tapping her keyboard. The alarm finally goes off, giving her some measure of peace. The throbbing in her head doesn’t decrease.

“Babs?” The humour has dissipated from Dick’s voice, leaving only worry. “You okay?”

Barbara sighs. She hates it when he loses his humour, particularly if it’s her causing it.  “I’m fine,” she says, turning her chair around to look at him. He’s frowning. Barbara runs over the few lines of conversation in her head, before realising her mistake. She never snaps at Dick, not unless she’s really stressed. And he knows it.

He’s one of the only people that’s true for, after all.

Dick takes a few steps forward. “Come on, Babs,” he says gently. “I know when you’re lying.”

Barbara runs her hand through her hair, wincing as the pressure on her scalp makes the throbbing worse. “I just…” she waves to her computer screen, where the gory images are still displayed.

Dick goes silent for a moment. “Ah,” he says. “That.”

Barbara nods. “Yeah,” she says, dropping her face into her hands. “That.”

“Headache too?” Dick says after a moment.

Barbara looks up, raising an eyebrow. “How…?”

Dick smiles. “You’ve been wincing away from light since I arrived,” he says, before taking a few more steps forward and tapping on her keyboard. The monitor turns off.

“Dick!” Barbara turns her chair around, glaring. “I need that!”

Dick glances at her. “What you need is a break,” he says. “You’ve been working too hard.”

“Of course I have!” she snaps. “That monster is out there, _killing_ girls and I have to find him before more bodies turn up. I can’t _afford_ to take a break.”

Dick drops into a kneel in front of her, gripping her hands. “Babs. It’ll be there when you get back. And you’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes. Besides, there’s not an awful lot you can do until Dinah gets back and the computer finishes with the check.”

Barbara glares at him. “I hate it when you actually make sense,” she mutters.

Dick laughs. “Normally your job, huh, Babs?”

Barbara doesn’t say anything, just glares at her hands.

Dick squeezes them tightly. “Come on. Let me take you out. We can get coffee.”

Barbara bites her lip. “I do want coffee,” she says slowly.

Dick grins, letting go of her hands. “I know you do. Come on, let’s go.”

Barbara sighs and gives in. “Fine. But if Dinah or Helena come back while we’re out, we’re cutting our trip short and I’m coming right back here.”

Dick snickers. “Aye, sir,” he says with a laughing salute.

Barbara rolls her eyes, before rolling her chair forward and heading into her apartment. “Just getting my coat!” she calls back.

She grabs her wool coat and pulls it on, fastening it and adjusting it so it sits comfortably even with the chair. She pulls on fingerless gloves, then grabs her scarf and hat. It’s already growing cold in Gotham, even though it’s only October.

Dick looks up as she returns. “Ready?” he asks, smiling.

She nods. “Let’s go,” before she grabs his arm. “Dick. Front door this time.”

Dick laughs. “I got it, Babs,” he says lightly, before jogging forward and opening the door for her.

Once she’s through, he shuts the door behind them and Barbara locks it.

And off they go. As they leave her apartment building, Barbara looks around.

She hasn’t been out since September, she realises, and in that time the city has changed. It’s colder and the few trees along the road are covered in brown, orange and yellow. Leaves crunch under her wheels.

It’s nice. She always forgets how much she likes autumn until it comes around again.

Dick starts talking after a minute of walking, about his latest read, about the TV series he’s started watching. Barbara inserts the occasional comment, but mostly just listens, happy to let him talk.

He waves his hands around as he talks, his eyes alight, his face grinning widely.

Barbara smiles. She’s never happier than when Dick’s happy. It’s infectious. And right now, Dick is happy, really happy, happier than he’s been for a while.

It feels good to see him like this.

Dick’s face lights up as they approach their favourite coffee shop, a small one a few blocks away from Barbara’s apartment. The windows are decorated in autumnal colours. Dick pushes the door open for her again, letting her roll in.

“In or out?” he asks, shutting the door behind them.

Barbara considers. “Out,” she says after a moment of deliberation. “I want to see the park.”

Dick nods and heads to the counter, smiling at the barista and ordering their drinks. “Chai latte, right?” he asks as Barbara comes up beside him.

Barbara nods and Dick orders two chai lattes, along with two gingerbread men.

“Dick,” Barbara starts, but Dick waves away her protests.

“My treat,” he insists.

Barbara rolls her eyes, but lets him order.

Once their drinks are ready, they thank the barista – Emily, her name is – before they leave the coffee shop and head towards Robinson Park.

The two crunch their way through the leaves, settling on a park bench in the middle.

Barbara puts her brakes on, before settling and sipping her chai latte. The spicy taste warms her and she smiles, before biting into her gingerbread man. Next to her, Dick sits with his hand gripping his own latte.

“It’s beautiful here,” he murmurs softly.

Barbara looks up and glances around. The park is awash in orange and brown, the rarely seen sun shining down on the bright colours and making the whole park seem like it’s on fire.

“Yeah, it is,” she says.

Dick glances at her. “I always forget Gotham can be beautiful,” he admits quietly. “It’s so easy to get lost in…well, everything. The death, the darkness. To just forget that all of this…” he waves his hand around. “This is Gotham too.”

Barbara picks a brown leaf out of her wheels, running her fingers over the fragile veins. “It gives you a bit of hope, doesn’t it?” she says. “That maybe…it’s not all for nothing.”

Dick settles back in the park bench. “Yeah. Hope. It…” he shuffles his feet, staring at the leaves on the ground. “All of this…it feels like hope.”

Barbara sips at her chai latte and they both settle into silence.

“Did you see the Doctor Who finale?” she asks after a moment.

Dick’s eyes light up and he nods, grinning. “Jodie Whittaker is such a great Doctor,” he says, before they plunge into an intense conversation about the latest season.

After a long debate on Cybermen versus Daleks, Barbara drains the last of her latte and hears her ringtone.

She grabs her phone and frowns down at the screen. “Dinah’s back,” she says.

Dick’s face falls. “Oh,” he covers up his disappointment quickly, but Barbara still sees it. “Well, we should probably get you back then.”

Barbara takes a deep breath. “It can wait a little longer,” she says, shooting a quick text to Dinah, explaining the situation. Dinah’ll be happy. She’s been on at Barbara to take a break for weeks.

Dick frowns. “Are you sure?” he asks uncertainly.

Barbara nods firmly. “I’m sure.”

Dick smiles. “Okay. If you’re sure,” he pauses and considers. “Have you read the latest book by Neal Shusterman?”

Barbara nods and they start talking again. Around them, more leaves flutter to the ground. Without either noticing, the sun slowly starts to move behind the buildings.

As they debate whether or not Roland was sympathetic, the world around them turns to gold and red.

Dick pauses in the middle of ranting, before grinning. “Babs,” he says. “Look.”

Barbara turns as the setting sun shines off the fallen leaves and the world grows first brighter, then dimmer. Pink fingers reach across the sky, before the sun finally sinks below the skyline.

They watch for a little longer as the sky darkens, then Dick stands up. “Well,” he says. “We should probably get going.”

Barbara nods. “Yeah,” she says, ignoring the reluctance that creeps up. “We…should.”

Dick takes her cup and wrapper, jogs off to toss them in the trash, before coming back to her. “Shall we?”

Barbara nods and starts wheeling herself forward, turning and heading back down the path towards the road.

They resume their conversation as they walk – or roll, in Barbara’s case, coming to a stop as they arrive at Barbara’s apartment building.

Barbara stares up at the towering building, before she glances at Dick. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

Dick hums. “Nothing to thank me for,” he says. “We just had coffee.”

Barbara smiles. “Right. Coffee.”

Dick takes a deep breath. “Well,” he says. “I should head off.”

Barbara nods. “I should go too,” she says.

They stop, staring at each other. And Barbara knows she doesn’t want to be the one to break away.

Dick smiles, before he leans forward and gently kisses her on the cheek. “See you later, Babs,” he says softly, before he stands and heads to his motorcycle.

Climbing on, he pulls on his helmet before starting the engine and heading off down the road.

Barbara watches him go, a soft smile on her face. She shakes herself out of her stupor, turning back to her building and heading inside.

Dinah greets her at the door, leaning against the wall. “So. Dick finally got you to leave.”

Barbara rolls her eyes. “Don’t read too much into it,” she says, rolling past Dinah and into her apartment. “I didn’t have any coffee in.”

Dinah sniggers behind her, but doesn’t pursue the topic, just comes around and slaps a folder onto Barbara’s coffee table.

“Autopsy report,” she says.

Barbara grabs the folder and rolls through into her Clocktower. As she turns her monitor on, a beeping comes from the computer behind her. She spins in her chair and rolls over to look.

A short list of names flashes up on the screen.

Barbara breathed a sigh of relief. The suspects had been narrowed down. Back to work.


End file.
